Thursday March 14, 2024
Sacramento Bee —
Sacramento and cities across California caught a break from the state’s water regulator this week after the agency faced criticism that its water conservation rules were too complicated and costly to meet.
Regulators at the State Water Resources Control Board proposed new conservation rules Tuesday that would ease water savings requirements for urban water suppliers and will ultimately lead to less long-term water savings than initially planned.
Under the new rules, the city of Sacramento would have to cut its overall water use by 9% by 2035 and 14% by 2040, far less than an initial proposal that would have required it to cut back water use by 13% by 2030 and 18% by 2035.
Statewide, experts analyzing the new rules say they will cut urban water by only 7% instead of 12% and on a much slower time frame. That will mean savings of only 180,000 acre-feet a year by 2030, instead of 750,000 acre-feet under the old rules.